Sarah Kupersmith's exhibition, “American Spacemint” comes to town from the Valley of the Rabbit to the City of the Rose Queens.

Kupersmith's artwork explores themes of conformity and nonconformity, drawing on the classic American space-age preoccupation with UFOs. In her exhibition of prints, sculpture, and mixed-media installation, viewers are presented with themes of personal freedom, playing with preconceived ideas of what constitutes art and life.

“Dog Mandala” is a silkscreen print combining familiar icons of apple pies and Panama hats in an orbit of flying saucers. The ceramic sculpture “Zenith Arnold” is a tribute to 1950's cartoon logic, where metaphor becomes literal and characters invent themselves.

ROBIN POWELL: Angels & Orchids Spontaneous Splendor in Color

The acrylic and watercolor paintings which make up Robin Powell’s Angels and Orchids: Spontaneous Splendor in Color displays the artist’s passion for beauty as well as her personal spirituality that is not confined by any particular religion.

“My art-making process is led by visions, dreams, spontaneity, and play,” commented Powell.

One of Powell’s dominant images, the angel, came to her unexpectedly in 1999 during a painting class. Her angels are meant to touch the viewer on both a personal and universal level.

A biologist by training, Powell has always been inspired by the natural world. She finds orchids particularly fascinating due to their unending variety in color and form.

When Powell was growing up in Detroit, MI, she held art auctions at her dinner table selling her work. Academics drew her to Washington D.C. where she studied science and worked in a variety of professions for 20 years. Powell arrived in Los Angeles in 2001, where she currently teaches art at Mission Renaissance Fine Arts Academy. She has a BS in Biology and plans to pursue an MFA in Art Education.

Kupersmith began studying art in Ventura County in 2003. She currently attends Pasadena City College, focusing on printmaking and conceptual art. Her work was recently selected for Pasadena City College's annual juried student exhibition in May 2008.